Warm
by PawPrints
Summary: Joey finally escapes his father's abuse, the old man went and died on him, but now what? Trying to live independently, Joey keeps his situation a secret from his friends not wanting to face the embarrassment or the pity. Even great resolve cracks and Joey ends up finding comfort in the unlikeliest of places with the unlikeliest person. Kaiba/Joey Shounen-ai
1. One of those Weeks

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 1: One of Those Weeks**

* * *

The steady beep of the heart monitor woke Joey. Knitting his brows he looked around, his back aching from his slumped posture in the uncomfortable hospital chair. He looked at the clock. It had only been forty minutes since he arrived. He looked at the hospital bed where a man in his late forties lay unconscious. His once blond hair was now streaked with grey, deep wrinkles set into his face from years of abusing alcohol and drugs, a scar under his eye- the man was Joey's father. Joey wished he looked like his mom, but there was no doubt he was the spitting image of the broken man on the bed. He sighed rubbing his face. Should he call mom? He hesitated. She seemed so happy with her new husband and Serenity even more so than ever, why let the man they had run from once again ruin their lives?

Joey stood up stretching. He walked out into the hall, shoving his hands in his pockets going to the vending machine. He pulled out the small bit of change he had and counted it. With a frown, he shoved the coins back into his pocket and grabbed a small paper cup and grabbed some of the free water. He forgot pops robbed him again the night before, the reason they were here in the first place. He sipped the water away quickly lost in thought and refilled his cup.

"Mr. Wheeler?" An older nurse, with brown hair tied back loosely and bright red lipstick, asked in a voice that really cut the silence. She looked concerned and wore that one expression that made Joey immediately dislike her. Pity. Everyone always looked at him as though he were pitiful. Joey refused to accept pity from anyone.

"That's me." He said, crushing the cup in his hand and tossing it into the waste basket.

"We're very sorry, but it seems as though your dad's condition is very critical. We've sedated him and we'll see in 48 hours, however his fever is extremely high and he has developed an infection in his lungs." She said, her face reading pure sympathy.

"Any chance of him making it?" Joey asked, his voice sounding distant. He didn't know how to feel. He hated his dad, the jerk beat him when he drank too much and robbed him frequently for drugs and cheap prostitutes.

"The chance is very low, but keep on praying. Also, keep in mind if he wakes up, he may have brain damage from when he had stopped breathing." She said carefully. "The machine is doing the work for him now, but he may never breathe on his own again. We'll have to consider our options from there okay?"

"Yeah thanks. And how much is all of this?" Joey asked. The nurse smiled weakly.

"I've taken the liberty to sign you up for the 'happy helpers' program. Many large corporations donate money for those who can't afford their bills. You won't have to pay anything, thankfully, you've been selected." She said softly. Joey felt a bit enraged. He wasn't some helpless brat! But he let it go. Once less thing to worry about. "The only thing we ask is that you write a thank you letter, it doesn't have to be anything big, but it's a nice gesture." She requested as she pressed the 'happy helpers' pamphlet in his gruff hands.

"Appreciate it." He replied. She smiled sadly once more and bowed before leaving him alone in the tiny drink room. He looked at the disgustingly cheerful pamphlet in his hand. It had 'happy helpers' written in a kid's handwriting and a pathetic looking crayon smiley face clipart below the words. The inside showed pictures of models smiling over a patient that looked completely unrelated to them, everyone happy. Joey folded it in half and shoved it in his backpack. He looked at the clock again and went back to his dad's room. Joey didn't feel anything as he looked over the man in front of him. Maybe he was just as broken as his old man.

"Hang in there pops. Maybe this will be the wake-up call you've needed." Joey said. He hesitated and took his dad's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm going to work now." He informed the unconscious form. "I'll be here again after school tomorrow." He continued. "Let's head back home together." He said but it felt fake as he said it even though he meant it. He hated his dad but he didn't want him to die. He let out a long breath and turned away. His dad would bounce back, he always did.

* * *

Joey's teeth grated as he worked the jackhammer. Construction had been kind to him financially but he felt like he lost brain cells quite often on the job. He got the signpost loose and the guys on standby pulled it out of the hole. Another couple guys brought the new signs, glossy and shiny, putting the post in the same hole. They filled it with concrete as Joey moved away, sitting on the back of the truck sipping a soda an co-worker of his bought for him. The cicadas chirped loudly, and sweat dripped down his back and face despite the moon in the night sky. Summer ended already, where was the cool fall weather Joey loved so much? His cellphone rang and he pulled it out. He checked the number.

"Joey Wheeler." Joey said into the phone.

"Mr. Wheeler," A man's voice replied. Joey didn't say a word. "Your father has passed on. Please come to the hospital." A loud ringing sounded in Joey's ears and his hand shook.

"Yeah, I'm on my way." Joey said, his voice nonchalant but his heart felt like it was cartwheeling. He hung up the phone and hopped off the truck walking over to his boss. "Aye boss man, can I take off early tonight? My dad's dead." He said. His boss looked caught off guard.

"Are you alright? Of course you can go...Call me when you're ready to work again Wheeler." He said stiffly. "Or if you need anything kid." Joey nodded and waved him off. He took off down the street running once his backpack was on him. His heart thudded in his chest mirroring his heavy steps as he ran. Everything seemed so much louder, his breathing, the traffic, and the cicadas. He reached the hospital and went into the dark entrance. Only the reception and back halls were lit.

"Mr. Wheeler?" A nurse asked. Joey nodded, struggling to catch his breath. She knit her brows. "Would you like to say goodbye?" She asked softly. Joey nodded again. She called for someone and a few minutes' later two nurses came to lead him back to his father's room. All of the cords and machines had been removed and his father laid still on the bed, more peaceful than Joey had ever seen in his entire life. Joey walked over and held his dad hand, surprisingly the tears came. He hated the man but glimpses of his childhood memories danced through his mind, before his dad became a drunk and drug addict. Now, that man would never have a chance to resurface. Joey squeezed the cold hand in his and sobbed, his body shaking. The nurses watched on with pity but Joey couldn't see them. After ten minutes or so he leaned down kissing his father's forehead for the first and last time in years.

"See you on the flip side pops." Joey whispered, wiping away his tears. It was time to grow up now, he had no choice.

"We're extremely sorry for your loss Mr. Wheeler. If you'd like, you can do the paper work tomor-"

"I'll do it today." He said coolly. The nurse led him from the room to a nurses' station. She pulled out a clipboard. Joey checked off the questionnaire and decided cremate his dad. The nurse reminded him that 'happy helpers' would cover the costs for a full funeral but Joey couldn't imagine that. Would he be the only one there? He shook his head cremation would be fine.

He decided to call his mom while he waited in the lobby for the death certificate. She didn't seem as distraught by Joey's dad's death but genuinely concerned for Joey.

"Do you want me to come get you honey? You can live here, we always want you." She cooed. Joey new she would be just hugging him tight now if she were here. She would smell of pricey perfume and shampoo.

"If it's alright I'd like to finish high school here ma." Joey said calmly.

"But where will you stay sweetheart?" His mom asked worry heavy in her voice.

"Ma, I've been paying the bills for ages. I'll probably sell the house and get a place somewhere." He said calmly.

"Well honey, it's against the law for a minor to live alone, I can't see you being all alone in an apartment. That's so dangerous." His mom argued. He smiled bitterly. She had no idea what kind of monster he had lived with all these years. "How about I set you up in a school dorm. That way I'll at least know you're eating properly"

"I won't be able to work." Joey responded.

"You don't need to honey, be a kid for all that is good. I know your dad wanted you to learn responsibility but there's a whole lot of time for that. I'll cover your costs, Tim has a great job, and we aren't hurting for money. Live in the school, eat right, get good grades, and make a life for yourself honey." She said. Joey felt bitter and removed. She never cared before, she never wanted him before and sure he had nowhere to go and should be grateful, he didn't like this sudden kind treatment. Flashbacks of begging to go with her surfaced and him watching Serenity cry for him as the car drove away, his mom's face determinedly facing forward. Not once had she looked back at him.

"I'm really alright mom, I don't want to live like a carefree kid anymore. I'll live with one of my co-workers, the old guy with the three kids and wife that left him." Joey grumbled.

"Are you sure?" She sounded relieved. Joey sighed.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Joey replied. His mom said goodbye and that she loved him before hanging up. He really wanted to her Serenity's voice but she was away for a school trip. He plopped back down in the plastic seats of the lobby. Finally a nurse emerged from the white double doors and handed him a paper in a plastic sleeve.

"Make sure you register this within five days." The nurse said softly as she held out the death certificate. Joey accepted the paper, the result of forty years of life. It didn't even look official. "Take care of yourself Mr. Wheeler." She said honestly.

"You too." Joey said absentmindedly. With a final glance at the hospital doors that led to his father, he turned and left. The sun had just begun to rise, birds chirped, the air was warm and Joey felt lost.

* * *

 **Thank you for ready Ladies, Gents and Non-binary Friends**

 **Please review!**


	2. The long way home

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
** **Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 2: The long way home**

* * *

"Joey! Earth to Joey!"

Joey blinked as he slowly came back from his thoughts, his best friend's hand waving in front of his face. Yugi smiled. Jealousy panged in Joey's chest. He wished he could be as happy and carefree as Yugi if only for a day.

"Were you up all night playing video games again?" Yugi teased. Joey grinned lazily, he had to play the part he designed for himself.

"You know it! I almost beat level fifty six but my finger slipped!" Joey complained loudly and animatedly. All of his friends laughed, drinking it in. They couldn't know anything was wrong with him because Joey had been feeding them this kind of lie from the beginning- to cover the beatings and to cover the late nights of working just so he could eat the next day. Once again, Joey realized that it was all over. It was only this morning his old man passed, but it felt like it hadn't actually happened.

"Yami and I managed to get to level 61!...er… well Yami did, I kind of fell asleep somewhere around level 40." Yugi admitted with embarrassment. Everyone laughed but Joey missed the cue. "Joey are you ok?" Yugi asked, concern washing over his baby face features. Joey plastered a lazy grin back on.

"Sorry, I'm really out of it. I should've went to sleep around level 30!" Joey laughed and just like that things were neatly taken care of. His friends suspected nothing.

"Isn't that all mutts do? Sleep and play fetch?" A raspy voice broke the imaginary bubble of happiness around Joey. Joey's smile immediately faded and he stood, turning towards Kaiba, puffing out his chest as a threat. Kaiba smirked. Why couldn't moneybags leave him alone for just one stinking day?

"Joey don't let him get to you!" Tea warned. "He's just a big bully!"

"What do you want Kaiba?" Joey asked rolling up his sleeves. "Because if you want a beating today's your lucky day."

"I'm not into dog fights Wheeler but I'll be happy to put you down." Kaiba responded. Joey glared. He wasn't the best at snappy comebacks so he did what he knew best: fight. Joey's fist collided heavily with Kaiba's big head. The brunette scowled and his long leg round kicked out catching Joey's and knocking him back against the desks. Joey ripped himself up barreling forward but Kaiba gracefully stepped aside causing Joey to hit the desks again. "Learn some finesse mutt." Kaiba mocked. Joey practically roared as he landed an uppercut, sending Kaiba flying into Tristan. Tristan stumbled back, his mouth in a 'o' shape. Before Joey could really hand Kaiba's butt to him strong arms gripped him pulling him back.

"Office. Now." The teacher, Mr. Raury said through clenched teeth, steam practically bursting from his ears. Kaiba brushed himself off, smirking triumphantly at Joey. He adjusted his uniform and sat casually at his desk, opening his laptop as though nothing happened. Kaiba never got into trouble. Who would punish a kid with the ability to fire you? Joey sneered at Kaiba but as soon as he was shoved out into the hall his anger melted into empathy. He slouched as he walked, hands in his pockets, looking at the floor as his thoughts drifted. The administrator that came to escort him to the office began scolding him but Joey felt like he was a million miles away and her voice barely reached him.

He reached the front office and separated from the shrilled voiced woman and headed towards the usual place. He saw the principal standing at his door, a look of heavy disappointment with arms crossed as he shook his head. Joey let himself in and the principal closed the door behind him.

"Joseph, I'm very disappointed. I thought we had an agreement last time. You were doing so well." The principal began. "I'll have to call your father… are things still…?" Joey cringed. Ever since the principal interrogated him over a black eye and found out Joey was being abused, he brought it up every chance he got as though Joey hadn't wanted to kick moneybag's gold plated behind. It was irritating and even worse, the principal, surprise surpise, had begun to pity him.

"Nah, he's dead." Joey said flatly. The principal's brows rose. "This is my guardian." He said pulling out a wrinkled business card and tossing it to the principal. "Can't say he'll care too much either way but you can call if you want." Joey shrugged. "You can even call mom to confirm it."

"Joseph, I'm so sorry. When did it happen?" The principal said, clearly feeling guilty.

"Around 2am or so." Joey said. The principal's jaw dropped.

"Today? Joey," The principal said, dropping his formal name, "You didn't need to come today if-"

"Look I'd rather no one know, please don't talk about it. If you could scold me and all that, I'd appreciate the normalcy." Joey said bluntly, leaning back in his chair, hands in his pockets, an impatient stare locked on the principal. The principal hesitated but went on as usual, scolding him while taking the crumpled business card and clipping it into Joey's rather thick file without calling the number on it. Good thing too, because Joey didn't have a chance to tell Tokimasa that he was now Joey's guardian.

* * *

Joey wiped the sweat from his brow, leaning against the truck as he watched his co-workers in the bucket truck messing with the powerlines. Today felt long and he was happy it was finally over. He normally liked doing jobs in the bucket truck, but the talk he had to have with Tokimasa soon was weighing on him. Another truck drove up, the second shift. Joey felt a bit unsettled. He was close to his co-workers, they knew almost everything about his crappy life, but he that didn't mean his was comfortable bearing his weaknesses to them. Tokimasa exited the other truck last, tying a towel around his head to keep the sweat from getting in his eyes later. Joey capped his drink and set it on the truck bed. He walked over to Tokimasa, hands in pockets, expression grim.

"Hey can I talk to you about something?" Joey asked.

"Yeah what's up?" Tokimasa asked, a bit surprised. He eyed the boss and the boss shooed him in an 'ok'. Joey led Tokimasa a couple feet away from the others. He didn't want to be the center of attention right now because he didn't want to explain his father's cause of death.

"Remember when you said you'd be my guardian if I ever wanted out?" Joey asked, finding it difficult to meet the older man's eyes.

"Did something happen? I'll kill the guy." Tokimasa growled protectively, punching his palm with his fist. Joey smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"He beat you to the punch. Turns out he went ahead and died." Joey said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Hopefully, Tokimasa wasn't all talk and no walk. He'd be boned if Tokimasa didn't agree to be his guardian. Joey wiped the sweat from his hands.

"Your old man's dead?" Tokimasa asked, lighting a cigarette. "Man." Silence fell between them but it wasn't uncomfortable at all. Tokimasa quietly puffed his cigarette and when he was finished he put it out on his shoe and put the butt back in the pack. Joey watched his co-worker come down from the powerlines. "Well kid, I got a nice pull-out sofa with your name on it. I'm here for you." He said and Joey felt the tears leak from his eyes before he knew they were even coming. Stubbornly he brushed them away and forced himself to get a hold of himself. The relief was real- someone wanted him. "You finished your shift?" Tokimasa asked checking his watch. Joey nodded. "Alright then how about you go get yourself something to eat and I'll drive you back on break. I'll get you a key to the house sometime tomorrow."

"Thanks Tokimasa." Joey said with a relieved grin.

Tokimasa pretended to tip his imaginary cowboy hat and headed off to the machinery. Joey headed down the street to the diner. It was about a twenty minute walk that helped him to kill the time. He ordered himself a hamburger and some fries. It was greasy but everything he needed right now. Tokimasa did him a huge favor not bringing up his dad's cause of death or what he was going to do with his dad's house. Joey felt extremely thankful. What would he do with his dad's house? If he were honest, he didn't want to go back there. At least not yet. Joey took another bite of his burger.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents, and Non-binary Friends**

 **Please review!**


	3. You need to get off my mind

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
** **Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 3: You need to get off my Mind**

* * *

"Kaiba Sir, the CEO of Dynamite toys declined the Kaiba Corp partnership." Kaiba's assistant, Teppei, yelled completely out of breath. He seemed as though he had run the entire company to find Kaiba in his usual spot- the office. Kaiba looked up from his laptop with eyes narrowed.

"What a fool. My company could swallow his whole." Kaiba seethed. Kaiba's secretary, some pretty girl that had started three days ago, placed two large manila envelopes on his desk with formal writing on each. "What the hell are these?" Kaiba growled. Her timing was worse than the last assistants'. Couldn't any of these girls read the air?

"S-sir, it's a copy of the rejection letter from Dynamite toys and the billing statement from the 'happy helpers' program." She stammered, her hands nervously rubbing together like a house fly. She was about as annoying as one too. Kaiba snatched up the top envelope from his desk. He'd deal with the 'happy helpers' nonsense later. He grabbed his briefcase, clipping his Bluetooth earpiece to his ear as he left the office.

"Teppei, call a car to Dynamite toys." Kaiba said icily. He didn't need Dynamite toys, but the partnership would save him a lot of time on exporting his products overseas since they were already established over there. He checked his watch and dialed the number of the Dynamite toys company.

"Dynamite toys & Co. Please hol-" A woman's voice came over the phone.

"This is Seto Kaiba from Kaiba corp. It'd be in your best interest to inform Mr. Ogawa that I will be there within the hour." Kaiba said harshly.

"I will let him know Mr. Kaiba." The woman said simply and hung up. Why couldn't his secretaries take orders like that? He made a mental note to fire his secretary. Kaiba took the glass elevator down to the lobby and walked through the paparazzi as they snapped pictures chaotically and asked their usual absurd and irritating questions. Kaiba ignored them and got into the black BMW that pulled up out front.

"Stop by the coffee shop." Kaiba ordered to the driver.

"Your usual order sir?" The driver asked.

"Order two and a green tea scone." Kaiba said coolly before closing the privacy window. He heard the driver call in his order to the coffee shop. He glared at the envelope in his lap. These old business giants were always such a hassle to deal with. They were so stuck in their old ideas that their companies were on the verge of failing but their names so well known that people respected them just because they had been around so long. It was irritating on many levels. Kaiba's business was new and he was young but he had yet to become more than a 'fad' to other companies. He opened the envelope his secretary gave and pulled out the papers inside curious as to what the old CEO wrote as a refusal. He sighed in disbelief. He should've grabbed both of the envelopes. He stared down at the cheap invoice of the 'happy helpers' charity. What thankful sob story would it be this time? Kaiba pulled out the letter and was immediately unimpressed by the loose chicken scratch handwriting. Skimming the first couple generic lines of thanks, Kaiba lost interest and threw it on the seat beside him. The car pulled up to the coffee shop and there was a barista waiting on the curb with the order. The driver accepted the coffees and passed one back to Kaiba through the privacy window and then a small brown bag with the green tea scone inside for Mokuba. He put it on the seat as he drank his iced Valencia black coffee.

The ride was relatively silent and Kaiba kept mulling over what to say in his head to Mr. Ogawa. He hoped the old man wasn't impossible to deal with. Sometimes stupidity really won over logic Kaiba had found. The car made a turn and Mokuba's scone slid off the seat. Kaiba reached over and picked it up and his eyes fell on the letter once more. Pausing, he realized he recognized the name. Scone forgotten, Kaiba put his coffee in the cup holder and picked up the letter, reading the name once more: Joey Wheeler. Kaiba reread the letter this time carefully. The first few lines of generic thanks, the bitter confession of his father's death, a real line of thanks and a name. Kaiba looked at the invoice again reading the patient name. Knitting his brows he opened his compact laptop and used his servers to search the Joey's old dueling registration files and found the two names matched up.

"-Kaiba sir?" The driver said, and by his concerned tone, Kaiba realized that the man must've tried to get his attention for a short while now.

"What is it?" Kaiba asked, his mind reeling.

"We've arrived." The driver informed. Kaiba looked out the window and sure enough they had arrived at the Dynamite Toys head office. Kaiba closed his laptop and put it away. He grabbed his briefcase and got out of the car. He paused for a moment, his thoughts scrambled. Stupid Dog. He leaned into the driver window.

"I'd like you to contact Domino hospital and find out all you can about Paul Wheeler. I paid his hospital fees through that charity, push that if they don't want to cooperate." Kaiba ordered. The driver bowed respectfully and Kaiba turned on his heel, shoving that particular situation to the back of his mind. It was time to deal with a stubborn old man.

"I knew you'd be coming today. You're like a spoiled brat, if you don't get your way you throw a tantrum." Mr. Ogawa insulted, leaning back in his chair like a villainous mastermind. Kaiba stared at him resisting the urge to knock the guy out. "You killed the future of Kaiba Corp. and your chance to partner with me when you killed the greatest business man in this city- your stepfather."

"Strange, I can't see a benefit in a toy company and an arms manufacture partnering." Kaiba said icily crossing his legs. "Kaiba Corp. is a greater company now that it ever had been. The old company would've died with the war." This was a bust Kaiba realized. People that favored Gozoborou were a lost cause and frankly they were a pain to work with if they somehow did agree to his terms.

"You keep telling yourself that kid." Mr. Ogawa scoffed, lighting a cigar.

"Mr. Ogawa the reality of your situation is that you only have two options. The first is to deny my company and be out of business before Christmas. The second is to partner and thrive, enjoying a nice bonus for your company and guarantee for your company's survival for years to come."

"This company has been around for ages. We're not going nowhere. You can threaten all you want kid but if you attack this company you'll be finished." Mr. Ogawa laughed. "I believe we're done here." Kaiba already begun deciding his new plan of action for the overseas exporting before Mr. Ogawa even finished his first sentence.

"I believe we are." Kaiba said, standing up. He didn't offer to shake the man's hand. "I gave you a fair chance Mr. Ogawa." He said coolly. He left the office and slid his card to the secretary. "When you get laid off from here give me a call." He offered. He could use a no nonsense, intelligent secretary. He returned to his car and got in. The driver was drinking the other coffee happily as he listened to the radio.

"That was fast." The driver said in surprise, turning down the music and wiping the whipped cream off of his face.

"Take a good look," Kaiba said, leaning back in the seat. "The next time you see this building, it'll be wearing the Kaiba Corp. Logo." The driver laughed.

"Sounds great boss." The driver started the car and pulled into the street. "By the way, I contacted the hospital, they were pretty tight lipped, but I got some details about Paul Wheeler. He was a drug addict with an alcohol problem. Beat his kid up pretty bad, put him in the hospital a couple times. He OD'd and died yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Kaiba asked with shock.

"Yeah, early morning." The driver said. "I just feel bad for his kid. Abused and now he's alone? I hope he got somewhere to go. He's lucky he had you pay the bills for him."

Kaiba didn't respond, recalling the very normal fight with Joey yesterday in first period. He was a bit more aggressive than usual, but he was like that from time to time. His friends all seemed to be as happy-go-lucky as ever. Joey must not have told them. Kaiba crossed his arms in thought. Joey was a lot tougher than he looked. Or maybe he was finally happy to escape his abusive father- Kaiba knew all about that feeling. Still, it had to be hard. Kaiba noticed the brown scone bag on the floor still and picked it up but he couldn't seem to focus. His thoughts remained on the blond.

* * *

 **Thank you for ready Ladies, Gents and Non-binary Friends**

 **Please review!**


	4. Going through it

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
** **Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 4: Going through it**

* * *

The light flickered on revealing Tokimasa's somewhat messy living room. The furniture was mismatched and rather worn, the place smelling of stale cigarettes, but it was sure better than going home. Joey put his backpack down on the floor by the couch after taking off his shoes. Tokimasa struggled to take his work boots off, grunting and groaning like old men do until he finally managed to yank them off, dropping them unceremoniously by the door.

"You got anything to wash? Better throw in a load before it's too late." Tokimasa offered, by the tone of his voice, it was obvious Tokimasa wasn't too fond of doing laundry. Joey thought carefully. Which was more important? Clean work clothes or clean school clothes? He didn't do much in his school clothes but he really didn't want to give that spoiled rich brat Kaiba any more ammunition on him. On the other hand, his work clothes got pretty nasty. He hesitated. "If you don't have a change of clothes I can lend you something. You'll probably be swimming in them though." Tokimasa chuckled at his own joke as he took off his socks. He disappeared into a back room and came back out with a big t-shirt and some old sweatpants. Joey accepted them. "How about you shower first, just throw your clothes in the hall. There's some towels in the bathroom you can go ahead and use."

"Thanks" Joey said with a grin. Tokimasa was a great guy even though his feet smelled pretty bad. Joey helped himself to the bathroom, throwing his clothes into the hall like Tokimasa said, and turning on the shower. His thoughts wandered as he scrubbed. He still felt a sense of alarm, the same sense of alarm he always got when he didn't go home on time but dad wasn't there to kick his ass for being late anymore. It hit Joey hard. Just when he thought it didn't matter whether or not his old man wasn't around anymore, something reminded Joey of him. Even though not all the memories were pleasant, most were unpleasant, Joey still felt as though he missed him. The empty space was definitely there. Joey rinsed and turned off the water, taking one of the plush towels from the little shelf above the toilet. He dried off his hair and put on the borrowed clothes. Tokimasa was right, Joey was practically swimming in them.

When Joey emerged from the bathroom, Tokimasa was sitting on the sofa watching T.V., beer in one hand with his feet propped up on the coffee table. It sounded like he was watching some kind of sports game. Even though it was the same thing Joey's dad did, it seemed really strangely different seeing someone else do it. Joey plopped down next to him. Luckily, it was a lot more interesting than sports- Tokimasa was watching one of those '20 most hilarious sports fails' shows.

"I wasn't going to pressure you on it, but if you need stuff from your house, I can go get it for you. I know it must be hard going back in there." Tokimasa said, his tone caring with just the right amount of distance. Joey didn't respond right away. No, he didn't want to go in there. He didn't know if he'd ever gather up the strength to go back at all. Something about walking in there without the threat of his dad seemed horribly wrong and out of place. "Or I mean, if you don't have anything left you'd want maybe we can hit up the second hand store or something."

"Thrift store might be cool." Joey agreed. He didn't want to go back in his old man's house, but he couldn't bear to let Tokimasa know how he and his father had actually lived. He couldn't really remember the exact state of the house but there was guaranteed to have some broken glass, trash, roaches and the same old blood stains from back when, but his dad might've done even worse the sixteen hours Joey hadn't gone home leading up to the hospital visit. Joey had tried to clean it up, but to be out in the open living room so long was too dangerous. The only decent spot was Joey's room, and Joey wasn't the most organized guy around.

"I'll take you to the thrift store after school tomorrow. We'll get you set up." Tokimasa said. He stretched and grunted as he got off the couch. "I'm going to take a shower. If you don't mind, you can pull out the sofa bed by yourself right?" Tokimasa's voice faded a bit as he disappeared again, reemerging with a stack of sheets and a pillow. "It aint much." He apologized. "We can get new sheets and stuff too if these aint enough."

"It's great. Thanks." Joey grinned. Tokimasa gave him a thumbs up and headed off to the bathroom. Joey moved the coffee table and pulled out the soda bed, making it up the best he could. He didn't know how to do army corner sheets or anything fancy but it looked pretty comfortable once he was done anyway. He laid on the bed and covered up with the sheet, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

"What time do you got school again?" Tokimasa's gruff voice asked, startling Joey from his slumber. It felt like he had only been asleep for a few seconds, his mouth dry as cotton. Joey opened his eyes looking around, almost confused about where he was. He saw Tokimasa and his life up until this point came flooding back to him. Pale sunlight poured in through the apartment windows. What time was it? "It's around six." Tokimasa said on cue, almost as if he read Joey's mind.

"I have to get there by seven." Joey murmured as he stretched.

"Alright then get dressed and all that. I'll drive you over." Tokimasa replied, his eyes half-lidded with sleep.

"I can walk, you can get some more sleep." Joey said, feeling rather guilty now.

"Nah, today's my visiting day for my girls. I'm heading that way anyway." Tokimasa said. "Come on, get a move on. Your uniforms still a little damp, sorry about that, the dryers been busted a while." Joey got up, thanked him and went to the bathroom to wash up. He brushed his teeth, thankful Tokimasa had a spare, and put on his fresh, slightly damp, uniform. He tried to comb his unruly hair but gave up. It just wasn't a battle he was willing to fight today. When he came back out into the living room, Tokimasa stood, folding up the newspaper he had been reading. "Ready?"

"Ready." Joey nodded. They left the house, Tokimasa locking the door before heading to his beat up brown pickup truck. Now that it was day, Joey could see a photo of three young girls taped to the dashboard as he got into the passenger side. He pulled on his seat belt.

"Those are my girls." Tokimasa offered as he started driving, probably to break the silence. "The oldest one is off to college soon. I won't be getting to see her today." Joey nodded in understanding. "That pictures pretty dated now." He laughed. Joey didn't really know what to say so he didn't say anything until they pulled up to the school. He thanked Tokimasa and wished him a good day before grabbing his backpack and hopping out of the truck.

Yugi spotted him immediately and Joey hesitated. It probably would seem odd he suddenly was driven to school by an old man that Yugi never met with no context. Yugi didn't even know that Joey worked so the co-worker thing wouldn't work as a good excuse- too much to explain. Tokimasa's truck drove off and Joey waved him goodbye before sucking in a big breath- here we go. Joey prepared himself for interrogation.

"Joey-"

"Oh look, the mutt decided to visit the groomers. Too much work for them to take care of the mane too?" Kaiba chortled, interrupting Yugi before he could even have the chance to say a word. Joey, for once, was grateful Kaiba was a huge jerk.

"What do you want money bags?" Joey growled.

"You say that as though having money is an insult." Kaiba mused. "Do you think before you bark?" Joey glared at him. "Honestly I almost consider it a compliment."

"Too bad you can't buy a personality." Joey snorted, mildy irritated that Kaiba had a point. Kaiba smirked triumphantly, not at all offended by the last comment.

"Kaiba! Leave Joey alone!" Yugi said trying to look tough, but with his baby-face, he ended up just looking like a really cute toddler throwing a tantrum. Joey blushed in mild embarrassment and pulled Yugi away. To his amazement, Kaiba didn't follow. It wasn't until they were inside the school that Yugi stopped ranting about human decency and respect in Kaiba's direction.

"I can't believe him! The bell hasn't even rang yet!" Yugi glowered.

"Calm down Yug'. You're going to bust a vessel." Joey laughed.

"Good morning!" Tea called out cheerfully. Joey and Yugi greeted her as she ran forward. "Guys did you see the news? Dynamite toys is going out of business!" She said pulling out her cellphone.

"What? No way!" Yugi gasped stepping forward.

"Who the heck is going to make all those cool virtual reality games now?" Joey asked in shock reading the news article from Tea's phone with Yugi's face practically pushed against his.

"I know! I couldn't believe it. That company has been around since my grandpa was a kid!" Tea agreed. Yami showed up out of the blue, or rather out of Yugi's pyramid, but Joey tried not to think about all that. He still didn't really like the idea of Yami at all, even if the old guy had some good advice sometimes and Yugi liked him.

"Yugi, will your grandpa's shop be ok?" Yami asked, his gaze focused on the phone. Tristan walked up behind Yami, late as usual, looking over his shoulder at Tea's phone and then asking Tea what was going on.

"Yeah, gramps went ahead and signed with Otogi a while back. Though he's kind of mad now because Otogi let Kaiba buy out his company. He was doing his best to avoid 'the nasty punk who rips of valuable cards' owning his shop but what can we do?" Yugi sighed. Joey laughed at Yugi's impression of his gramps. Yugi grinned. The mood felt light on the surface. Suddenly, the bell rang and they all realized they were late. They all grabbed their stuff and ran to class.

Bored, bored, bored. Joey balanced his pencil on his finger absentmindedly as he wondered what would happen if he didn't pay the bills to his dad's house anymore and never went back. Would they board it up? Knock it down? Leave it be because it wasn't even worth the trouble? Joey tilted his head to the side, the mumbling of calculations occasionally interrupting his thoughts. He narrowed his brows in distress at the horrid sounds and the pencil fell.

"Joesph Wheeler. Are you paying attention at all?" The teacher, Mr. Goodwin, his algebra two teacher, barked. He looked over his old fashioned glasses at Joey, his silver hair peppered with darker silver, a white beard that didn't match the rest of his hair, clad in a salmon colored polo, obviously the epitome of fashion. He was writing a math problem that looked too advanced for Algebra two on the plastic projector sheet.

"No sir." Joey mumbled, answering honestly, but not really taking in the meaning of the question he was answering.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Goodwin questioned more harshly, choking a bit in surprise. Joey's eyes widened realizing what he just answered. His classmates giggled.

"Er- I meant uh-" Joey was graciously saved by the bell ringing. Mr. Goodwin narrowed his eyes as Joey jumped out of seat waving and running out of the classroom. Joey made it all the way to the locker rooms running before he slowed down, his heart thudding, adrenaline rushing. At first he was just running to escape the math teacher's possible detention but then it had turned into escaping the math teacher's possible detention, three angry hall monitors possible warning slips and a love confession from a girl that he had been putting off for about a month now. He let out a sigh of relief as he opened the locker room, shutting the heavy door behind him. Safe at last. Then he looked up and saw several half-dressed girls in front of him, Tea included.

"Joey, what the heck!?" Tea gawked in astonishment. Joey went red as the shrill screams of embarrassed girls filled his ears. He did the only thing he could do: he put his hands over his eyes and ran.

"Sorry!" He called out, running forward, hoping to escape the girl's locker room on the gym side. "Sorry! Sorry!" He caught a leg with his, tripped over a bench, hit a locker and tried to catch his fall but instead ended up falling into a sink. He kept his eyes squeezed shut as he pulled himself out of the sink, laughter now erupting from the girls, replacing the screams. Great. Good thing their getting a kick out of this.

"Joey. It's here." He heard Tea's voice sigh and hands on his back pushing him. "Open your eyes doofus." She said and he found himself in the gym, the sound of the door closing behind him.

"THANKS TEA" Joey yelled. He ducked around the bleachers trying not to get caught by teachers even though he just yelled loud enough to wake the dead and went into the boy's locker room.

"Joey? Why are you coming in from the gym side?" Tristan, his brother in crime back before meeting Yugi, asked as he sat on the bench, mid-shoe tie.

"Ah, man. Some stuff is better left unsaid." Joey said, a goofy grin on his face.

"Did you accidentally go into the girl's locker room again?" Yugi smiled, wearing a gym uniform that looked to be about two sizes too big, but Joey knew that it was the smallest they had. "I heard screaming… and a door slam… and you yelling 'THANKS TEA' really, really loud."

"Yug', don't give me away." Joey play threatened and they laughed. Joey went to his locker and opened it, staring into the empty space. Joey closed his locker. Cue internal screaming. His gym uniform was still in his dad's house. He felt a pang of regret. Why hadn't he taken his uniform to school the week before like the gym teacher had asked? Why was he always such an airhead? How much were gym uniforms again? Joey frowned. He could only remember they were expensive. A whistle blew before Joey could consult his friends on what to do, so he just hung his head and followed the rest of the guys out into the gym.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents, and Non-binary friends!**

 **Please review!**


	5. Peace of Mind

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
** **Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 5: Peace of Mind**

* * *

"It's September and we all know what that means- Sports day." The coach bellowed despite the fact he was holding a megaphone. Joey groaned. Sports day was nowhere near as cool as it sounded. It wasn't a day of playing sports and having fun- it was a huge production for the parents to watch. Coordinated group gymnastics, stupid dances and lots and lots of boring speeches from the school's highest donators. The only fun parts were the relay races, ball throw and the hat stealing game but that hardly made up for the hard hours of tortuous training they were about to endure. "Wheeler, where is your uniform?" The coach demanded, noticing Joey almost instantly. "Go grab something from the basket of shame and get changed. Now." He ordered and Joey groaned.

Joey ran over to the corner of the gym where a pile of very hideous clothes sat in a basket too tiny to actually hold anything. Joey grabbed a tie-dye shirt and took a few moments to choose between pink velvet pants or puke-green capris with paw prints on the butt. He hesitated and went with the capris even though he was pretty sure they were designed to fit a girl's body but the pink velvet pants had a questionable stain on the butt he wasn't ready to brave. He ran back to the locker rooms. "You're late Mr. Kaiba." He heard the coach growl as he shut the locker room door.

Joey changed as fast as he could, not really wanting to be stuck alone in the locker room with the brunette knowing it'd definitely be a fight. He threw his stuff in his empty locker and ran back out, skirting around a mildly perplexed Kaiba. He got back in line and the coach blew the whistle again yelling orders. They began their normal stretching. Kaiba joined half-way through, looking like a super model in his gym uniform and Joey couldn't resist rolling his eyes. The guy was already a billionaire and had perfect grades, why'd he half to look like a model on top of it? Some guys got all the luck, Joey only had his charming good looks.

"Alright when I call your names get into your teams. This will be your team for the gymnastics. Get used to the faces because they aren't changing." The coach warned. Joey started to zone out as the long list of names and numbers were called. His last name was Wheeler, so it'd be a while. His thoughts flickered like an old movie reel to back when he did sports day the first time in the first grade elementary school, wearing the green bandana and doing that really embarrassing pompom dance with green pompoms. He remembered Tristan ended up on the pink team back then and had cried about it the whole day after finding out. Joey remembered helping him color his pink pompoms black with markers and they both got in lots of trouble the next day. "WHEELER." The coach yelled. Joey jumped. "Go to group five now or get out of my gym!" Joey blushed, seeing all of the other kids already in teams, the one other kid left behind with him because his family name began with Y looking really uncomfortable. Coach's face deadpanned and he pointed at team five, seeming to believe Joey in fact, had no brain. Joey bowed apologetically and ran over to team five. He was more than happy to see Tristan was in his team. Yugi waved from his team, team three. A team of short kids. Joey waved back, a bit sad Yugi hadn't been in his team again this year but once he thought about how lopsided their formations would be and the disaster of him probably crushing Yugi with his body he decided it was probably for the best.

"Alright let's start with a simple pyramid." The coach said, having already called off the last kid… Yamazaki…? Joey forgot. "You should know what a pyramid looks like, but I'll remind you just in case. It's a triangle, big on the bottom, small on the top." He looked directly at Joey. The sarcasm was real. Joey acted dumb, pretending like it was new to him and his group laughed. The coach looked unimpressed and ignored him. "Ready? Begin!" Joey's team immediately started playing rock, paper, scissors to see who the unlucky bottom row would be. Joey lost first, some other kid lost second and despite Tristan's gloating that he had won the last two rounds, he ended up being the last addition to the bottom row.

They got on their hands and knees and Joey braced for the weight of the next kid. It wasn't too bad. He wasn't weak or nothing, he just hated the bottom because of the moving part.

"This year we'll be doing a wave. Left to right. When you hear your group number sink, two numbers after, rise. If you're group 1, sink on one, rise on three. Ready go?" The coach yelled the numbers mercilessly, giving them few breaks in between waves. Joey was sweating, his arms starting to shake from doing push-ups with double his weight on his back and a knee jutting into his shoulder blade. Poor middle kid. The bell rang Joey fell on his stomach, breathing heavily, exhausted. Most of the kids were worn out. He glanced over and saw Kaiba sitting on the ground, sweaty and tired looking. It surprised Joey, Kaiba usually didn't do stuff like a normal kid but there he was, suffering along the rest of them. "Before you get up, I'm reading off the relay teams. You are expected to practice during your morning free period. If you can't participate tell me now or suck it up." Joey listened to the different colors of the teams and names being called. "Team blue, Endo, Gardener, Kaiba, Mutou, Wheeler, Yamada. Team white-" He continued.

Joey looked at Yugi who was beaming and giving him a little victory sign. He grinned back happy Yugi was on one of his teams at least. He looked over to Tea who also gave a victory sign excitedly. Then he looked at Kaiba who looked mildly irritated, wiping his face with a Kaiba Corp. embroidered towel seeming indifferent to anything other than his own irritation. Joey groaned. He pulled himself off the floor and went to the locker rooms. He showered and put his uniform back on, really wishing he had a different pair of socks. The coach came in, his megaphone squealing. Joey cringed covering his ears. "EVERYONE IN THE RELAY TEAMS WILL BE STAYING HERE FOR FIRST MEETING INSTEAD OF ATTENDING THE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY SEVENTH PERIOD." He yelled into the megaphone. Yugi was using his towel as earmuffs looking at Joey pitifully, his expression screaming 'why is he yelling into a megaphone?!' Joey empathized but soon the assault was over.

Lots of kids left for the assembly but there were seven teams in the gym. Joey walked up to the blue flag and sat down next to Tea who was gossiping animatedly with the other girl. She turned to Joey.

"Endo and I thought you'd be a great person to go last. You're probably the fastest one." Tea said confidently.

"Isn't it better if the fastest person goes first?" Yugi asked, coming up to the group.

"I think I'm faster than that kid." Yamada said, crossing his arms.

"You want to prove that Yamazaki?" Joey challenged. Yamada glared at him and stood beside him. Tea rolled her eyes.

"It's Yamada. First one to the basket of shame and back?" Yamada questioned.

"You're on." Joey growled and they took off running. Joey felt almost free, his heart pounding in his chest, breathing deep and controlled, it was the first time he got the chance to run in a long while without being chased. He easily reached the basket first making it halfway back to the flag before Yamada even turned around. Yamada looked devastated. "Sorry lots of practice." Joey laughed, reaching out to shake Yamada's hand. Yamada shook it and plopped down on the ground, panting.

"Are you done wasting time?" Kaiba questioned, his raspy voice startling everyone. It seemed Joey wasn't the only one who thought he wouldn't show to the meeting. "Let's get this over with. For the lineup- Yamada, you're first. Then Endo, Yugi, Tea. I'll go fifth and Joey will finish." He informed, his tone making it clear he wasn't going to argue. Spoiled brat.

"What makes you think that's the best lineup?" Joey challenged, glaring at him. The race would be a disaster if he had to rely on Kaiba. He knew that much. "What about other people's opinions?"

"Yamada and Endo are average runners. Yugi is the slowest, Tea's slightly above average. You're the fastest- must be all the practice running from the dog catchers." Kaiba teased. Joey deadpanned. Of course Kaiba would say something like that.

"Yeah and what about you? You're probably even slower than Yugi with all those gold bricks in your pockets." Joey snorted. Yugi chuckled in a deep voice and Tea elbowed him. Joey narrowed his eyes realizing Yami went ahead and took over for Yugi. At least Yami appreciated his jokes.

"I'll be sure to leave them in the vault beside all my other riches. Besides, wouldn't want to miss the chance of throwing the mutt a stick." He smirked. Joey's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"That's enough." Yugi…Yami said. Kaiba noticed Yami too Joey realized. Tea blushed and smiled doing a tiny wave. Yami ignored Tea's little show affection. "Kaiba's lineup choice is pretty sound. I agree with him. Anyone else besides Joey or Kaiba have anything to say?" Joey realized Yugi brought out Yami because he wanted to win. It wasn't quite a game but Yami was pretty good at strategy. Did that mean they were cheating? "Great. See you tomorrow morning. Let's win this." And Joey watched Yami's features fade away. Yamada and Endo none the wiser. Yugi blushed too. Joey leaned back on his arms. All of his friends were nutty.

* * *

Joey was freakishly early to school thanks to Tokimasa dropping him off before work. Free period had been moved to first period, so instead of going inside, he went around to the feild. He almost felt physical pain when he dropped a good ten thousand yen on a new gym uniform. Unluckily for him, the uniform came with a free ten minute scolding from the coach about how he shouldn't have lost his old one. Unfortunately, that was the really what happened.

Joey realized it on the way home from school yesterday when he had been considering going to his pop's house to get it. He had been retracing his steps so he could spend minimal time in the house- grab it and go- when he realized he had left it on the bus with a perfectly good bento on the way to the hospital the day his old man had been admitted. So much for that. Some hobo was probably wearing his uniform somewhere. Probably ate his bento too. Though honestly, he couldn't deny the relief he felt that he didn't have to go to that house yet… even if it did hurt his pockets.

Joey sat on the bleachers, far too early to see anyone else yet. Coach was throwing equipment onto the field- hurdles, nets, balls, and flags- anything related to sports equipment you could think of. Joey's new uniform laid beside him in the plastic packaging with his worn 'new' backpack from the thrift shop he and Tokimasa went to last night sitting at his feet. He heard a car door and looked to the side, seeing Kaiba getting out of a roofless green Jeep with a coffee in hand and a briefcase in the other.

"How many cars you got moneybags?" Joey asked, remembering Kaiba had a black GTO the other day and a red convertible on a Kaiba Corp magazine he saw once at a convenience store.

"As there are ribs in your body." Kaiba replied sourly, taking a long drink from his coffee.

"You have 24 cars?" Joey pressed, his expression of boredom and disbelief.

"26 actually." Kaiba corrected. "And a helicopter."

"The male human body only has 24 ribs Kaiba." Joey snorted.

"And the dog has 26." Kaiba smirked. Joey glared. Kaiba took a seat on the same bleacher as Joey but there was enough distance between them for about five people to sit. Kaiba pulled out a magazine and begun to read. Curious, Joey looked at the title.

"For a kid running a multibillion dollar company, you sure got lots of time." Joey whistled. Kaiba's expression went flat.

"It's necessary to check what rumors the opposition are spreading about me." Kaiba grunted.

"Can't you hire someone to do that for you?" Joey asked lazily, not really interested.

"I need to read it for myself. If there is a live interview and the hired help read the accusation wrong, it'd hurt my reputation. Not to mention direct quotes make a more compelling argument sometimes." Kaiba replied. Realization hit Joey. He and Kaiba were having a real conversation. Without fighting…kind of.

"What're they saying?" Joey tried. What could they possibly say about the guy? 'High school students scares business men with icy glare'?

"Once again they're claiming I'm responsible for Gozoborou's death." Kaiba sighed, shutting the magazine. Joey knit his brows. Gobo root who?

"Who's that?" Joey asked, confused.

"My step-father." Kaiba said simply, and the conversation was very clearly over as the other team mates came running up. Kaiba's resting brat face returned but Joey was stuck on what he had said. Kaiba's dad died too? When was that? He never thought about the guy's parents, he always just assumed they lived lavishly with him eating from silver platters along with Mokuba in the Kaiba mansion but he was wrong. Kaiba, the guy with everything had lost his father too. Suddenly, Joey felt like he wasn't so alone.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents, and Non-binary Friends.**

 **Please Review!**


	6. Not my day

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, TBA**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 6: Not my day**

* * *

Kaiba face palmed, trying to regain his composure. The practice was, in a word, a disaster. The first boy Yamada was getting slower each run, tripping on his own feet right off the start line every single time. Tea kept skipping, Endo's form was laughable in a not very nice way and Yugi- Kaiba couldn't understand how he could have lived this long and still not realize where his own legs were. He tripped on himself four times now. There was no way they were winning, they would barely get last place. The baton hadn't even been passed to Kaiba yet.

Kaiba blew the whistle again, irritated he had somehow been made 'captain' of this disaster. He'd hand the title to Yugi before the actual event, he wouldn't dare take credit for this. Knowing his luck the paparazzi would show up and compare the relay race to his company and he didn't need the trouble right now. Yugi looked up at him from the ground where he had just landed, smiling sheepishly. Kaiba glared at him.

"Again. From the start. Walk for all I care. If you idiots can get through this without one person tripping-" Kaiba seethed. He let out a heavy breath, realizing no one could hear them from how far away they all were. He watched everyone go back to position. He checked his watch. Thankfully, first period would be over soon. He blew the whistle again and Yamada took a majestic step forward, falling to the ground. Kaiba shook his head and turned to look at Joey, who was squatting by the grass, pulling up blades and trying to whistle with them. Kaiba looked back to the other imbeciles and saw Yugi running, he passed the baton to Tea without falling and Tea, for once, decided to just run instead of skipping. Kaiba saw the blue baton nearing him and he grabbed it, unceremoniously taking off. He saw Joey getting up in the distance and soon, he passed the baton to the blond. Kaiba slowed, his heart racing and breathing heavy. He watched as Joey ran like a wild horse right to the finish line and then slam the baton on the ground like a football. Kaiba's short lived admiration wore off instantly. He hated everything about this team. Then, the bell rang.

"Hey Kaiba- we did great! Don't you thi-" Yugi smiled, running up to him. Kaiba blew him off giving a cold glare and went to the locker room. He was behind on his work and the only reason he agreed to do this stupid sports day nonsense was because he promised Mokuba he'd do it one time before he graduated. Everything was in order. He'd graduate a year early and by next year he'd be opening up a second base for Kaiba Corp in America. He planned to even have a second Kaibaland park built in America within the next two years.

He showered quickly and dressed before the others entered the locker room, grabbing his briefcase and heading to economics class. He technically already passed the exam for the class, but agreed to come as a formality. He sat at his desk in the back of the room and opened up his laptop. He began reviewing the company's stocks and moved onto the newest expansions of the branch when his mind suddenly drifted to Joey. He paused. It was rather discomforting how often he appeared in Kaiba's thoughts now since he found out about Joey's father's death. They hadn't been friends but for some reason it really bothered Kaiba. He had even attempted to sympathize with him this morning by letting him know he also lost his step-father. Kaiba snorted. It was nowhere near a tragedy like Joey's life had been though. Just like everything else in Kaiba's life, his step-father's death was planned to suit Kaiba's needs. Joey wouldn't find Kaiba's situation comforting if he found out Kaiba had pushed Gozoborou out of the window himself. He'd call him a murderer like everyone else did- and frankly he was wasn't he? He mentally cursed himself for thinking that, he was letting the mutt distract him from work yet again.

He growled and opened his emails, reading through tons of requests, threats and all the other strange nonsense that came to his inbox day in and day out. He saved a few from emails from companies he had been waiting for and forwarded the rest to his new secretary, a male this time, who seemed to be decent enough for now. The guy claimed he needed the job because rent was so high and he had a newborn or something of that sort. Kaiba paused again. Was Joey able to make rent? Did he even work? Kaiba sighed, focusing was impossible. The class slowly began to fill in, the teacher's eyes falling on him before promptly ignoring his existence as she began her lecture.

Curiosity got the better of him and he looked up Joey's address in the school mainframe- which needed better security by far- and then looked up the status of the residence. He wasn't surprised to find it had received an eviction notice. He checked the government website on evictions having never had that problem himself- it was all very new to him. Well, he needed to do something about this or he'd never be able to focus. He closed his laptop and stood up, leaving out of the back door of the classroom and returning to the parking lot where he had parked his jeep that morning. He climbed in, throwing his briefcase in the back and shut the door. He wanted to make it to city hall before lunch.

* * *

Kaiba walked straight to the usual counter he did business at and the woman who usually worked the counter looked visibly ill. He sighed as he saw her already calling over her manager- who promptly also looked visibly ill.

"Good afternoon Mr. Kaiba, and why have we the pleasure of your company today? The permits for your new branch have all been taken care of, supervised by the mayor himself." The manager said, his face in a permanent wince as though it were stuck that way. Kaiba knew he wasn't wanted, but he frankly didn't care.

"I hope that you'll be wise to keep everything said today private." Kaiba threatened. It was easier to scare them into submission from the beginning. The manager flinched and agreed vigorously. The counter girl looked as though she wanted to run, but the manager was holding tightly onto her wrist to prevent her from escaping. "If any of this makes its way to the press, you'll find yourself beside the bums downtown begging for money." Kaiba continued. The manager flinched again, agreeing with him more desperately as he forced the girl to bow with him. "A friend of mine has been issued an eviction notice. I'd like to purchase the evicted house for him." He said coolly.

"Ah- there's a lot of laws surrounding other people's property that I can'-" The manager began.

"I'll pay full cost up front in cash now. I will also donate an equal amount of money to city hall." Kaiba said boredly. He knew he would get what he wanted, if not by pleasantries and money, then he'd get it with threats and money. He'd give them the pleasantries option first. The manager hesitated.

"Let me speak with the mayor, please wait." The manager practically squeaked before running off. The girl shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"M-must be a special friend." She tried to make small talk. Kaiba eyed her irritably. "A girlfriend?" She asked. Kaiba gave her a sour look and she bit her lip not saying anything else. The manager came back over quickly, uncomfortable.

"He said he could excuse it this one time-uh the mayor that is." The manager announced with a weak voice. "What is the address of the house you wish to purchase?" Kaiba told him the address and waited as the man pulled it up. "Ah- are you sure you wish to purchase this particular house? There's a long list of crime under its belt and it's not in the best of conditions…"

"I didn't stutter." Kaiba said coolly. "Name your price." He said. The manager immediately blurted out the price like it was a bee in his mouth. Kaiba was shocked to find Joey's house was only half the value of a normal home. In other words, it was less than Kaiba made in a day. He pulled out the money he brought with him, the portion enough for an average home, and placed it on the counter. "Keep the change." He said, as he took the deed to the house.

"Er… you have to get your friend to sign it and return it within 30 days or-" The manager began.

"He won't be signing it." Kaiba said firmly.

"Someone has to… you could sign it, technically, since the house was soon to be reclaimed anyways…" The manager said as forcefully as possible but it still sounded weak and pathetic. Kaiba snatched the pen and signed it. The girl bowed awkwardly removing it and slipping it away as the manager held out a trembling hand to shake Kaiba's for the deal. Kaiba shook his hand firmly. He was a business man after all.

"Thank you for your service as always." Kaiba said as a formality and the manager paled a bit. Kaiba turned and left.

He got back in his Jeep and decided to take one more detour before getting back to work. Maybe if he solved all his curiosities he could actually focus on something other than the mutt. He could only hope. The next option would be therapy.

He drove to the shady part of town, immediately spotting druggies, panhandlers and prostitutes. He scowled at the human filth that littered the area. Other than a single greasy burger joint, there wasn't any other business in the area because the crime rate was so high. He went down the pothole littered streets and pulled up to a very inconspicuous white house. It was just a normal house for the average lower class person. Incredibly mundane. He turned off the car and got out, taking his briefcase with him just in case one of the idiots on the streets got any ideas. He walked up to the porch and saw tons of mail jammed into the mail slot. It looked like no one had been home for a couple days. The windows were covered with curtains and there was really nothing else about it.

"If you're looking for Paul, he's dead." An old woman on the porch next door said, her voice gruff as though she smoked a pack a day since birth. "And if you're looking for his boy- he aint been around. He left a few days before Paul died and still hasn't come back. He's probably dead too. Or ran away if he knew what was good for him." She hummed. "Good kid though, if I were ten years younger…." Kaiba cringed. She looked like she was about ninety, ten years? She'd need to be seventy years younger at least.

"Thanks for the information." Kaiba said, turning to leave.

"If you're here to collect a debt you could probably sell the T.V. Paul's spare key is under the dead plant there." She said as she lit a cigarette motioning to the plant by Kaiba's foot. Kaiba took the key and pocketed it deciding it'd be better to keep it then let the old lady tell the next person who came to the door where it was. He turned on his heel and left, ignoring the old woman. He did his good deed for the year. It was now time to get some work done.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading Ladies, Gents and Non-binary Friends!**

 **Please Review!**


	7. My past life

.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, Yugi/Yami**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 7: My past life**

* * *

"Hey Tea" Joey said as he sipped the iced barley tea Yugi's grandpa had made for them. Tea looked up from the fashion magazine she was reading, the sounds of Tristan yelling as Yami kicked his butt in a video game loud behind them. "Kaiba's step-dad died?" He asked carefully. Tea looked confused but then laughed.

"What rock have you been living under? That news is so old." She teased. "I was what, a freshman then?" She thought aloud, her finger tapping her chin. "Yeah, Kaiba's step-father died two years ago. That's how Kaiba has the company now." Joey felt pretty dumb, and really that news wasn't so old. "Why do you ask?"

"Eh, just curious. Read it at some magazine at the convenience store today that Kaiba was responsible for the death or something." Joey lied with a shrug. He really just reworded his conversation with Kaiba that morning. Tea rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I saw that too. They'll write anything won't they?" Tea sighed.

"Was he responsible?" Joey asked. Tea gave him a pointed look. "Just asking." Joey said sheepishly.

"Well no one actually saw what happened, but apparently Kaiba's step-father fell out of the executive office of Kaiba Corp. Speculation is that Kaiba pushed him, others claim it was suicide. Kaiba looked pretty shaken up about it on the news back then. It was probably some freak accident." Tea pondered aloud as she let Joey in on the secret that apparently everyone knew.

"Wow that's kind of rough." Joey commented absent-mindedly. It was pretty hard dealing with the death of his father in his small world, he couldn't imagine the whole word tuning in on it and trying to blame him for it. Kaiba went through a lot too. "What did his step-mom say?"

"There is no step-mom." Tea said, a strange look on her face. "It's not like you to be interested in Kaiba. What's going on?" She pressed. Joey grimaced.

"I… uh-" Joey sputtered trying to buy time, but no good excuse was coming. "Just curious is all. Don't worry about it." He said lazily trying to pull off he wasn't really interested, turning his head to the side. She snorted, obviously annoyed but instead of pushing it, she turned a page in her magazine and went back to reading. Joey relaxed. Tristan plopped down in the chair beside Joey looking undeniably defeated.

"I didn't stand a chance. Go avenge me." Tristan said with a distant voice.

"Stop being a big baby." Joey laughed and stood up. "You ready Yami? I'm going to wipe the floor with you." He announced as he took the controller off the floor and sat in Tristan's chair. Yami smirked and Yugi wished Joey good luck.

* * *

Of course he lost. Joey put his hands on his head as he wandered down the street to work. Tokimasa's schedule didn't really match up with his today and instead of running the poor guy ragged, Joey insisted on walking. Yugi offered that he and Yami walk with him halfway but Joey declined. One reason being because he didn't want Yugi knowing he worked for a construction company the other… Well, Yami still kind of freaked Joey out. He hadn't really been all too certain about ancient spirits and all that jazz, especially after Ryou's seemed to have kidnapped him out of their lives. Yugi seemed really happy too, always extra cheerful when pharaoh Yami burst out of that pyramid, blushing and smiling.

Joey stopped in his tracks. Wait, was his friend Yugi in love with the spirit thing? Joey cocked his head and kept walking. As he thought about it, things started to make more sense. He really couldn't see Yugi dating a girl, and by how protective Yami was over Yugi, they might already be together. That, or maybe Yugi fell in love with Yami because he was so protective. How would that work though? Could he really find happiness like that with a thousand something year old spirit? Joey shook away the thought.

"Sup' guys." Joey greeted his co-workers as he reached the site. It was the Dynamite tou building. "Oh man, I didn't know we were working on this place." Joey whistled.

"Prime example of why you should be good or be good at it." One of the guys chortled. "Got caught red-handed doing illegal deals with overseas companies. They were secretly making arms for war without permits or nothing." He informed. Joey's jaw dropped.

"Were they dealing in dynamite?" Tokimasa asked, covered in dust from knocking out drywall. The guys howled with laughter.

"No they dealt in guns." The guy laughed.

"Missed a chance." Tokimasa commented winking at Joey. "You get here alright?" Joey nodded. "That's good. Boss man wants you to work on wiring. The other guy called out again." Joey sighed. He was good at wiring, but he hated going in the walls. Sometimes there was some pretty nasty stuff in there- dead animals, garbage, bugs or all three. Joey saluted Tokimasa and went inside the building. They already hollowed out the inside of the bottom floor except for the support posts and there was blue prints showing some pretty extravagant changes. Why the guy didn't just bulldoze and start from scratch was beyond Joey.

Joey saw the wires hanging haphazardly out of the wall with tools everywhere. He looked at the blueprint again and took to work pulling out the wires and replacing them, making sure the sockets were exactly where requested. The sounds of drills and hammers filled the silence in his head.

"Right this way." Joey heard his boss say. He must be showing the customer around but it was almost 2am now and the workers were doing some gritty work. Who in their right mind would want to check building progress now except for the actual workers? Joey looked up and his heart almost flipped out of his mouth. Kaiba stood in a crisp suit, his face stern and focused as his boss explained the issues with the blueprints. Kaiba seemed to be entirely unimpressed.

"If your company is incapable of performing the task at hand there are other companies that can." Kaiba said coolly. His boss looked like he was sweating pretty hard. Joey turned, deciding to make himself small and busy so that Kaiba might not notice him. His fingers worked quickly, finishing his bit of wiring faster than he anticipated but he soon forced himself to stop. His anxiety over Kaiba's presence might make him mess up the wiring and he didn't want to get yelled at or fired. He looked up again and saw Kaiba explaining how something needed to be done with a semi-irritated tone. Kaiba glanced up briefly in Joey's direction and turned back to the blueprint to explain again but he seemed to stop with realization. Joey bit his lip and looked away.

"Joey come here." His boss called out. Joey groaned. He was done for. He got up grudgingly and plodded over to his boss and Kaiba. He glanced at Kaiba to find the blue eyes set on him and looked back at his boss. "Our employer would like to speak with you." His boss said, even though he looked unsure about the whole situation, he looked rather relieved to be able to sacrifice Joey so that they could work in peace.

"He won't be coming back for the night." Kaiba informed his boss, who agreed very quickly. Tokimasa stepped up.

"Hold it, where exactly are you taking him?" Tokimasa asked, his cigarette almost burned to its end between his lips. Kaiba regarded him for a moment the same he would a bug before squashing it. Yikes.

"It's alright, he's a friend from school." Joey said awkwardly, though he couldn't hide the pleading look of desperation on his face that was probably screaming something like 'help me!' Tokimasa looked really confused.

"Our employer is your friend from school?" Tokimasa inquired.

"Er… yeah." Joey shrugged, though friend was the exact opposite of what he considered Kaiba to be. Kaiba began looking rather impatient. "Anyway, I'll see you in a bit? Don't worry about me." Joey tried, him putting two thumbs up. Tokimasa didn't look like he was buying it but he let Joey go much to Joey's dismay.

Joey walked out into the warm night air following Kaiba to a black corvette. It was the first time he really got to look at Kaiba. Kaiba was so tall; he looked to be about eight centimeters taller. Kaiba opened the car with a button on his keys and told Joey to get in. Joey reluctantly opened the door and sat in the passenger side and Kaiba started driving but didn't say a word. He looked like he was uncomfortable which was weird to Joey. Why the heck would the rich brat drag him away from work if he didn't want to be around him? "So uh… I read some articles about your step-dad." Joey said.

Kaiba's knuckles went white as he gripped the steering wheel harder. Joey mentally kicked himself. Joey knew he'd hate it if someone suddenly brought up his dead father and made him talk about it. It was the only thing he was able to think of, that or Mokuba, and the Mokuba thing probably wouldn't get him far. How's Mokuba? Fine. End conversation.

"I killed him." Kaiba said suddenly. "It's not as tragic as you think." Joey was a bit startled by the news but didn't find it surprising. Kaiba seemed like he would kil- Joey stopped himself. Kaiba didn't really seem like someone who would do that.

"How'd it happen?" Joey asked, not accusing him or trying to deny what Kaiba thought to be truth, but he wanted to know.

"I took over his company." Kaiba said simply. Joey frowned, very informative. Not. After a short silence, Kaiba spoke again. "I had been completely obsessed with taking it, all of my childhood was consumed with the ambition to free us and the only way to accomplish that was to take the company. With perfect grades, a skilled sharp tongue and some backed threats I managed to get the team of idiots below my step-father to grant me his position. I won and then fired all of them. Knowing that he lost, he threw himself from the Kaiba Corp window." Joey's eyes were wide, he hadn't expected Kaiba to open up to him, especially not like this, not in a million years.

"He killed himself?" Joey asked.

"I pushed him." Kaiba said. "With my words, I made him jump."

"That's not the same as killing someone. Even if you want to pretend to be that cold, you aren't." Joey snorted. "You're no killer." He continued and looked at Kaiba who looked really troubled and strange, as though he wanted to cry but forgot how to. Joey hesitated. Kaiba pulled into the shoulder on the highway of the mountain they were cruising on. The view was pretty awesome, though Kaiba didn't seem to notice it.

"I was abused by my step-father. That's why I did what I did. An eye for an eye. I just didn't realize he'd jump." Kaiba continued. Joey tensed. Kaiba was abused? The idea seemed absurd to him. Kaiba was someone grown men cowered in fear from not the other way around. Then Joey realized if he met himself on the street it'd be hard to imagine that the blond with the stupid grin and killer right hook was abused by daddy at home.

"Don't blame yourself for that idiot jumping out of a window." Joey said, realizing that Kaiba was doing just that. It wasn't right. "My dad's dead too, you know? He beat me pretty bad and I ran away. He overdosed while I was gone. I've been keeping him from doing too much for years, pulling his hand away, sneaking his drugs from under him and trashing them. And you know what? I might be why he's dead too. I didn't come home even though I knew he just got paid. I knew he'd go buy a full arsenal of crap to get messed up on." Joey paused, tears welling in his eyes. He realized he had been blaming himself. Kaiba's hand rested itself on his forearm. It felt strange and yet comforting.

"Joey he's a grown man who made poor choices. If I'm not allowed blame myself for my father's death than you're not allowed to blame yourself for yours mutt." Kaiba said, his voice cracking a bit. How long had Kaiba held this in? Joey had only held in his fears and blamed himself for the last three days, had Kaiba been doing it for the last two years? No wonder the guy was such a jerk. Joey laughed bitterly through his tears. They were so lame. Here they were in the middle of the night crying together over dead family. The next twenty minutes or so they sat in comfortable silence, taking in the view.

"You alright?" Joey asked looking over at Kaiba. The brunette's expression was pretty twisted. Joey leaned over to check and see if Kaiba was crying and Kaiba turned to look at him, he wasn't crying, but suddenly their faces were pretty weirdly close. Joey's eyes widened. Kaiba's did too, but only briefly. Then, without warning Kaiba's lips brushed against Joey's. It was like a ghost's whisper there only for a moment and then gone so fast that Joey wondered if he had imagined it. Kaiba sat up straight and pulled the car out of park, driving back down the mountain road. The only other words Kaiba said to Joey after that were to ask for an address to where he wanted to go. Kaiba input it in his GPS and dumped Joey off at Tokimasa's house without even saying goodbye.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents, and Non-binary Friends.**

 **Please comment below!**


	8. Cross my mind

**.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
Pairings: Joey/Kaiba, Yugi/Yami**

 **Warm**

 **Chapter 8: Cross your mind**

* * *

"That was pretty good let's try again." Yugi said, hands on his hips. He was short and had a real baby face but when he wanted to, he could definitely have an air of authority about him. They had been practicing for the relay all morning short of one member. Joey looked over towards the parking lot but still no sign of Kaiba. Anxiety bubbled in Joey's stomach.

"When's Kaiba coming?" Yamada asked casually as he tied his shoe. "Aren't all members of the team supposed to be here?" He wasn't used to dealing with Kaiba. It was common knowledge that Kaiba ran his own show. That meant he showed up when he wanted to. Yugi hesitated.

"I'm sure Kaiba will be one hundred percent on race day, we have to believe in him. Until then, we have to keep practicing." Yugi said firmly but even Tea looked uncertain.

"If Kaiba doesn't show up on sports day…" She said uneasily.

"He'll fail out of P.E. and that won't look good." Yami said calmly, voice several octaves deeper. Tea blushed. Yami had taken over for Yugi again. Joey sighed. Even his little buddy must be experiencing some anxiety. "Like Yugi said, let's keep practicing." Yami announced, seeming to forget his existence was unusual. Endo and Yamada looked at Yami like he grew a second head.

"Aren't you Yugi?" Endo asked suspiciously.

"Oh, don't mind him, he's been playing too many RPGs these days, he loves those little cute characters that talk in third person." Joey said, standing in front of Yami to avoid them getting a better look. Yugi's pyramid thing would throw some people on a wild ride if they knew about it. Joey imagined scientists drilling into Yugi's head or worse- stealing his pyramid. That would be pretty bad. "Anyways, we don't really need him to practice. We just need to be sure we don't trip and pass the baton right." Joey said with feigned confidence. He looked towards the parking lot again but Kaiba didn't show.

* * *

Joey balanced his pencil on his finger attempting to make it wiggle without dropping it as Mr. Raury passionately explained a piece of literature from some dead era. Joey always really enjoyed stories even though he wasn't the best at reading, but today he couldn't get his mind to focus on anything. Or rather, it was focusing too much on one person- Seto Kaiba. It wasn't the first time his thoughts were wild on the guy but it was definitely the first time they took this route. Usually they were full of ideas for revenge or clever comebacks that were much too late, but today his thoughts were trying to recover the memory of the kiss with the guy. Was it a kiss? It wasn't much like when he kissed girls secretly under the bleachers in middle school or like his girlfriend last summer. This was more like an accidental hit of the …lips. Joey's brows knit.

"Mr. Wheeler?" Mr. Raury questioned. Joey looked up, barely able to pull himself from his thoughts. It was obvious from how the whole class was closely watching him that Mr. Raury had asked some random question and intended to make a show of Joey not paying attention. Joey kept the pencil balanced as he raised his brows.

"Yes?" Joey asked politely.

"Could you read the next passage?" He repeated. Joey didn't even have a book. That was pretty much common knowledge. He couldn't afford the books they read in that class so he often used Yugi's copy, which his short buddy placed on his desk and pointed helpfully to the part. Joey stood up and read with difficulty the old styled text, stumbling on words and botching the flow completely. A few students giggled at his shabby efforts. After he finished reading, he plopped back down in his seat not at all bothered by the irritated gaze coming from his language teacher, who swiftly began explaining the text in full detail once more.

"Hey, you alright?" Yugi whispered to Joey. His voice was so quiet that Joey almost missed it.

"Yeah." Joey smiled awkwardly. Yugi dropped it. The class seemed to go on forever, the drone of literature barely stopping Joey's thoughts from repeating all of last night's events with Kaiba on a loop. Was he really not coming to school today? Kaiba wasn't even in this class leaving Joey with no way of knowing if the brunette had decided to show up or not. The bell rang.

Joey went to his next class and plopped down in the seat beside Tea and Tristan. Tea ignoring Tristan completely, talking to a girl beside her about some new boy band they both liked. Tristan noticed Joey and waved. Kaiba wasn't in this class either, something that Joey was thankful for at the beginning of the school year, and Joey felt his mood sink lower.

"Sup'" Joey greeted fist bumping Tristan.

"Did you study for the test?" Tristan asked. "I'm definitely bombing it. Tea just told me about it." Joey's heart sank.

"Test?" Joey cringed. Tristan looked at him with full understanding. "Ah man, no I didn't know there was a test. I barely did the stupid homework." Joey complained. He and Tokimasa spent the whole night doing it together. It was the first time Joey ever felt like he had a father figure in his life.

"I reminded both of you yesterday." Tea said sharply, cutting into the conversation. "Just do your best, and I'll help you study for the retake later." She sighed seeing their devastated expressions.

"Hey Tea, can I ask you something?" Joey asked. The question was terribly placed and sure there were more important things to think about but this was driving him mad. To be honest, he was going to fail the test either way so why not? Tea looked back at him expectantly. "Uh… if someone kind of…" Joey blushed. "I mean uh…" Tea looked at Tristan for an explanation for Joey's weird behavior but Tristan looked just as confused as she was, shrugging. "It's- well. If someone's lips…touch your lips…"

"WHAT? WHO!?" Tea asked excitedly.

"My man" Tristan laughed putting his fist up for another fist bump. Joey awkwardly bumped his fist but he wasn't feeling very celebratory.

"But I mean… is that a kiss?" Joey asked. Tea and Tristan gave each other a look.

"Tell me what happened. I want all the details" Tea said, full focus on Joey as though the algebra test wasn't in less than ten minutes. Joey gave an extremely edited run through of what happened with Kaiba leaving out lots of details- the talk of their fathers, the fact that the kiss-like situation occurred with a male…the fact that said male was Seto Kaiba. Tea sat back in her seat deep in thought.

"Wait so she kissed you first?" Tristan asked. "Man she must like you… but why are you so weird about it? It's not like you've never been kissed. Do you like her too or something?"

"Hmm… It seems weird she ran off though. Opened up to you about stuff, kissed you and just bolted? Maybe she was confused." Tea thought carefully. For some reason that thought didn't settle well with Joey. "Have you seen her today? Did she act strange?"

"Better yet who is it?" Tristan asked with a big grin wiggling his eyebrows. Joey ignored him. No he hadn't seen Kaiba today, fourth period gym would be the moment of truth but what could that truth even be? It's not like anything could come of it. Joey frowned. He had spent so long hating the guy it was hard to wrap his head around the idea things could be different. It's not like a person could change overnight. They wouldn't suddenly be friends and even then, friends normally didn't kiss each other. Maybe it had been an accident. Joey pushed away the thought. There was one thing he couldn't deny no matter how much he wanted to- Joey wanted Kaiba to like him. He could hardly admit that to himself let alone to his friends. Luckily, he didn't have to, the teacher had taken his place at the front of the classroom demanding everyone quiet down and prepare for the test.

By the time P.E. came around Joey was terrified. He spent the whole math test with riddled thoughts of what Kaiba was to him or what he could be. His heart was pumping like he was running a marathon, the anxiety of seeing Kaiba making his palms sweaty. He even had to pep-talk himself to walk into the locker room, this time the right set of doors, and the moment he entered the coach yelled at him for being late. He spotted Tristan and Yugi sitting on the bench already dressed and tying up their shoes.

"Hey Joey!" Yugi said happily. Joey waved at him and quickly changed his clothes, shoving his uniform in his locker and barely pulling his shoes on before the coach's whistle sounded, the shrill ring bouncing off the lockers like an angry bird. Joey winced.

"MOVE OUT." The coach bellowed like a drill sergeant, hoisting his clipboard under his arm, his whistle falling to his chest. They quickly scurried out of the locker rooms and into the gym. He immediately spotted Kaiba standing with his group stretching his arm across his chest. Joey's heart did a flip. Kaiba turned and noticed him, their eyes locking briefly before the brunette looked nonchalantly away. Joey felt deflated. He spent all day beating himself up over what Kaiba would do and now that he was here it seemed stupid and pointless. He couldn't help but feeling angry. Stupid jerk. Joey's thoughts were finally cleared but he couldn't seem to shake the strange subtle disappointment he felt.

"Yesterday's wave was pathetic to say the least, but today we must move on to a new challenge. The groups today will do partner tasks. You may choose your partner within your group you have ten, nine, eight-" The coach counted down impatiently, pacing the gym as everyone scrambled to get a partner. Joey immediately linked arms with Tristan and stood watching the chaos around him as people rock, paper, scissored to try to get a particular friend, or very blatantly scramble away from an unwanted partner. Joey saw Yugi standing with the tallest person in his group which Joey found pretty funny. He then allowed himself to look a bit further. He saw Kaiba standing by himself arms crossed, the rest of his groupmates looking on in terror, playing rock paper scissors as though the loser would suffer death. The coach looked troubled as well. Kaiba had definitely given the guy a run for his money on who had more authority and the coach knew a problem was arising. The coach slowed his countdown significantly until the whole gym seemed to be watching the spectacle in Kaiba's group. They seemed to be purposely pulling the same item so that no one would win or lose. The coach pulled his megaphone to his mouth.

"Alright, now look at the wall to your left." He ordered. An old projector was set up to shine at the worn mats glued to the wall under the basketball hoop. A black and white picture from what looked like the dark ages showed on the mats, two boys with forced looking smiles were doing a pose that looked like that one love scene from the titanic movie… except the boy who would be rose had his legs wrapped backwards around the waist of the boy holding him. Crotch straight to butt. Joey laughed. "Something funny Mr. Wheeler?" The coach questioned over the groans of the other kids who already decided they would rather do anything but this.

"Not at all coach." Joey snickered again.

"Great. Then you and your partner can show us a living example of how it's done." The coach said with an unpleasant smile. Tristan gave Joey a look that could only be described as 'Really man?' Joey gave him an apologetic smile and awkwardly went in front of the image with Tristan.

"You're Rose." Tristan muttered. Joey inwardly groaned. He got on his hands and knees and awkwardly put his feet up wheelbarrow style towards Tristan. His friend grabbed his legs and walked closed, trying to pull Joey up by his arms but his hands slipped sending Joey face planting into the gym floor. Laughter broke out amongst the kids and Joey flushed with embarrassment glaring at Tristan. "Sorry." Tristan said sheepishly. The coach himself was laughing, arms crossed.

"Not so easy is it boys?" The coach chided and Joey really hated that he couldn't show the coach up. It wasn't even about easy anyways, the pose was weird and the coach knew it. "Anyone else want to volunteer?" He asked looking around at the now completely silent crowd of kids intentionally looking anywhere but at the coach. "Didn't think so. So let's go over how to do this." He said and he used a little clicker to change the pictures on the mats. The pose was from sitting on the shoulders, to standing on the knees then to wrapping around the waist. Joey groaned. Lots of crotch in unwanted places in every pose- it wasn't something he had been hoping for when he woke up this morning. "Try to do the first pose amongst yourselves. We'll regroup in twenty." The coach yelled into his megaphone and then trotted off to Kaiba's group.

Tristan and Joey had no problem, they had often used this as one of their tricks to breaking into places back in their gang days. Joey was up on Tristan's shoulders in less than a minute and they ended up playing chicken with another group as the waited. Joey howled with laughter as Tristan ran away from the other boys, the nametag Joey stole pinned on his chest next to his own. As the other groups figured out how to get their partners on their shoulders without dropping them, they joined in. Joey got swiped by a boy in the face and Tristan ducked causing Joey to almost fall from his shoulders but they escaped again. Tristan circled back around and Joey reached out claiming yet another nametag.

"WHEELER. TAYLOR. DOWN NOW." The coach roared. Tristan and Joey stopped mid-swipe, Joey's chest littered with other people's name tags. Tristan dropped Joey off his shoulders, both of them standing stiffly, unsure of what kind of trouble they were in now. The other kids slowly dropped off their partner's shoulders too, feeling the tension in the air. "Wheeler. Return all of those nametags at once." The coach growled.

"At once? Can't I just hand them back one at a time?" Joey tried with a dumb grin and the coach turned red, then slowly purple in anger. Joey's smile cracked a bit and he started unfastening the nametags with nimble fingers.

"Return. Them." The coach seethed but Joey was already ahead of him, passing them back as fast as he could. The kids quickly pinned on their tags and stood straight, wanting to avoid the coach's wrath. Joey passed back the last one and ran back to his team standing beside Tristan. The coach looked as though Joey's antics had aged him fifty years, he rubbed his blocky hand over his leathery skin and held his megaphone up to his mouth. "Let's try the transition now. From the shoulders to standing on the knees." He yelled and he called two girls to the front to demonstrate. They somehow already perfected the whole sequence. Joey shook his head, girls had some serious magic powers or something, they always seemed to do school related anything well. At least the coach seemed to forget about him and Tristan. "WHEELER. TAYLOR." Joey flinched. "Come here now." Joey looked at Tristan and he shrugged. They walked over to the coach.

"Rock paper scissors. Winner gets Kaiba." The coach said.

"Wait hold on, that aint fair." Joey argued. He'd be damned if he would be stuck with Kaiba in two groups, especially after that rich jerk went ahead and kissed him scrambling his thoughts all day while he casually existed like nothing happened. "He aint even in our group."

"Life isn't fair Wheeler. Now play the game." The coach said. Joey glared at the coach but played the stupid rock, paper, scissors game with Tristan. He knew Tristan always picked rock and so in order to lose Joey picked scissors. Tristan picked paper. Joey knit his brows. What the heck? He looked up at Tristan's face which screamed betrayal- he must've thought of the same strategy only he knew Joey better than Joey knew him apparently. Joey gawked at him. "Alright Wheeler Go." Joey shot Tristan the meanest look he could muster and Tristan just scratched his head with a face like he deserved it escaping back to their peaceful group of nobodies. Great friend.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents and Non-binary Friends**

 **Please comment below!**


	9. New options

**.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh  
Pairings: Joey/ Kaiba, Yugi/Yami  
**

 **Warm  
**

 **Chapter 9:** **New Options**

* * *

Joey stomped over to Kaiba in frustration and kneeled down. Stupid suddenly strategic Tristan.

"There's no need to bow mutt. I know I may look like it, but I'm no god." Kaiba said with a smirk. Joey grit his teeth more than ready to punch the guy. How on earth did he spend the last ten hours or so thinking about this guy? He totally sucked!

"I'm not bowing, you pompous jerk. Get on my shoulders." Joey growled. It took all his willpower to not throw his leg out and kick Kaiba in his non-bruised somehow evenly tanned shins.

"You're mistaken if you think I'm getting on your shoulders." Kaiba scoffed. "You're obviously the smaller, weaker one of the two of us."

"Weaker? You want to put money on that? I'll kick your butt back to KaibaLand!" Joey snapped, jumping back up and getting in Kaiba's face.

"Big talk for a stray, do you even have change to spare?" Kaiba sneered. Joey's nostrils flared and he tackled Kaiba. To Joey's surprise, moneybags didn't fall, instead he caught Joey and cast him aside. Joey climbed back to his feet and turned toward Kaiba, running full speed towards him. Kaiba braced himself for another tackle, but Joey surprised him with a low swiping kick that landed the millionaire on his butt. Joey smirked at his small victory. Something snapped in Kaiba and the brunette was on his feet snatching Joey up by his shirt with a fist pulled back.

"HEY HEY HEY." The coach roared as he tromped over, eyes wild with irritation. "Break it up NOW." He growled, handing his megaphone to a nearby girl. Kaiba glared at him icily and dropped Joey like a sack of potatoes to the gym floor. "Good." The coach approved as he eyed the blonde scrambling to his feet before returning his eyes to Kaiba. "Now I don't know what the two of you were fighting about this time, frankly, I don't really care. But you need to get over it now. There is only one week until sports day and if you two aren't in top shape I'm failing both of you." The coach warned. Joey shot Kaiba a glare but Kaiba offered no response. "Now kiss and make up." The coach ordered. Joey's eyes went wide and he shot a nervous glance to Kaiba who seemed a bit thrown off by the comment as well. The coach made a face. "Not literally" The coach groaned. "Just shake hands and get back to practicing." The coach took his megaphone from the girl and trotted off to go yell at some other kids.

"You're on top." Kaiba said coolly. Joey didn't say a word and begrudgingly climbed on Kaiba's shoulders. The brunette stood up and Joey got a strange chill from how high up he was. He grabbed awkwardly onto Kaiba's head causing the brunette to stumble a bit. "Watch it mutt." Kaiba growled in warning.

"Sorry, if you weren't so freakishly tall there wouldn't be a problem." Joey growled back.

"Oh, is the little dog afraid of heights? I guess it would be uncommon for you to be so far off the ground." Kaiba snorted in return.

"Can you shut up for a second? Geez" Joey grumbled. "Let's just get this over with." Joey said more loudly, though he was sure Kaiba had heard everything, he was, after all, on the guy's shoulders.

"You forgot to take off your shoes." Kaiba complained. Joey rolled his eyes and kicked one of his shoes off. "Stop moving so damn much." Kaiba demanded. Joey stopped, irritated. This guy was a real piece of work. Kaiba grabbed Joey's foot and took his other shoe off dropping it to the ground like it was a biohazard, which Joey had to admit wasn't too far from the truth. His sneakers were pretty smelly. Joey couldn't see his face but he knew Kaiba was reaching his limit. Kaiba squat down putting Joey's feet on his legs. To Joey's surprise, the rich brat was actually pretty strong. Unlike Tristan, his legs didn't shake and he didn't wobble uneasily as he moved Joey about him.

"Man Kaiba, I gotta say I'm impressed. All that time in front of a computer and you still somehow are capable of doing normal human things." Joey mused. He heard Kaiba snort as he pulled his head out from under Joey's crotch so Joey was standing on his legs in front of him, his hands on Joey's hips.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Kaiba replied. "Now wrap your legs around my hips." Joey flushed. He heard a scream to his side and he looked over in time to see a girl fall off of another girl. Laying on the floor, the fallen girl grabbed her arm like she was in serious pain. The coach ran over. "Wheeler pay attention." Kaiba barked impatiently. Joey hesitated, he couldn't really figure out how to do it without falling himself. Kaiba's hands were suddenly on his chest holding up his weight. Joey blinked in surprise and embarrassment but let the brunette guide him. Soon his legs were properly wrapped around Kaiba's waist, Kaiba holding his hips to keep him steady. "Put your arms out." Kaiba ordered, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Joey held his arms out like he was trying to fly, counting to eight, then he dropped his hands to the ground, crawling off of Kaiba. There was a slow clap and Joey noticed the coach standing off to the side watching them. Joey grumbled to himself as he got off the ground. Kaiba looked equally as done as Joey felt. Joey crossed his arms and watched the other groups struggle with the formations. There were lots of shaky arms and legs. Why did they think it was a good idea to make kids do all this?

"So Moneybags, you too good to practice for the relay like the rest of us?" Joey questioned, his tone coming out more sassy than he meant to. Kaiba smoothed his gym uniform and looked down at Joey making him feel small and pathetic. Joey tensed.

"I was at a parent teacher conference." Kaiba stated calmly. Joey knit his brows.

"I thought you didn't have parents." Joey contended.

"Are you an idiot? I went to a parent teacher conference for Mokuba." Kaiba snorted, crossing his arms and looking away as if he couldn't stand looking at Joey.

"Mokuba?" Joey asked confused, but then he understood. He flushed, feeling pretty dumb. "Oh… How's he doing? I haven't seen the kid since the last battle city tournament." Kaiba seemed to struggle with if he wanted to continue the conversation or not. A shrill sound of a whistle filled the gym followed by the coach's yelling to line back up. Disappointed, Joey walked back over to his group looking at Kaiba who was steadily gazing back at him.

.

* * *

.

Joey wiped the sweat from his brow as he sat on the top of the ladder. He pulled back the drill and checked that the light fixture was level before putting another bolt in place. Clanging and drilling filled the air around him as Dynamite toys slowly evolved into KaibaCorp Gaming Ministop. A few feet away Tokimasa was walking by, carrying a couple of two by fours. Joey put the drill down between his legs and pulled his copy of the blueprints from his mouth, unfolding it to check where the next light had to go. He made a lot of headway, he'd complete the first floor fixtures before the end of his shift tonight. Tomorrow he could probably get the second floor walls knocked out then move to the fixtures. He could have the outside lights up by Friday. Things were looking great.

"Joey!" A young voice sounded and Joey for a moment couldn't figure out where it was coming from. "Down here!" The voice said and Joey looked down to see Mokuba smiling up at him. Joey gaped for a moment before his face burst into a huge grin. He jumped off the ladder and hugged the boy.

"Long time no see punk." Joey said giving Mokuba a nookie. He looked up and saw Kaiba looking down on him, arms crossed, wearing his black and white trench coat getup. "Sup' Kaiba?" He said. Kaiba sneered. Joey decided to let the expression on that ugly mug slide. "What're you doing here?" Joey asked Mokuba, ignoring Kaiba.

"Kaiba told me you were working on the new building and I bugged him to let me come see you." Mokuba explained with a smile. "Do you have time for a duel?"

"Please Mokuba, don't make a fool of Joey in his workplace." Kaiba smirked. Joey tried to send him the meanest look he could but the jerk looked completely unfazed. Joey looked back at Mokuba's excited face and felt incredibly guilty.

"I don't have my deck with me." Joey admitted. Mokuba looked at him as though that were a foreign concept to him.

"Well where is it? We could go get it." Mokuba offered. Joey hesitated thinking of his deck that he carefully hid under his mattress on the floor in his room at his dad's house. Joey shook his head. Mokuba looked sorely disappointed but snapped out of it immediately. "Oh well then how about we get some burgers then!"

"Mokuba he's working." Kaiba reminded him.

"Come on Kaiba, let him have some time off. You're his boss aren't you?" Mokuba begged, giving Kaiba puppy dog eyes. The brunette sighed and Mokuba did a victory dance. "Let's go Joey!" Mokuba exclaimed dragging Joey out of the building. Joey stumbled along, unable to run properly with someone so short holding onto his arm. Mokuba unlocked Kaiba's silver corvette and hopped into the blue interior. Joey silently judged Kaiba for the blue eyes white dragon feel of the car. Maybe he liked the dragon a little _too_ much. A moment later, Kaiba joined them in the car, sitting by himself in the front seat, turning on the engine. He pulled out of the parking lot of Dynamite toys as Mokuba rummaged through his backpack.

"Hey, did you tell someone I was leaving?" Joey asked awkwardly. Kaiba put on his blinker and turned down the street.

"Of course I did." Kaiba said icily. Mokuba tapped on Joey's shoulder and held up a pretty awesome drawing of the red eyes black dragon.

"Oh man Mokuba that's sick! Did you draw this all by yourself?" Joey asked in awe.

"Yeah! It took me a couple hours but it got into the art show last week." Mokuba grinned.

"Why'd you draw a red eyes black dragon and not the blue eyes white dragon?" Joey asked. Mokuba blushed. "Isn't the blue eyes the family logo or something?"

"Er… well it was originally supposed to be the blue eyes… but I messed up on the shading…" He bit his lip. Joey then realized the monster actually looked more like the blue eyes in the shape of the body and head but the colors were that of the red eyes.

"Really? I would've never noticed if you didn't point it out." Joey laughed.

"That's because you're a moron." Kaiba commented. Mokuba laughed and then immediately looked guilty, covering his mouth with his hand, ducking his head a little. Joey rolled his eyes. Now he was being tag-teamed by the Kaiba bros. Best way ever to spend the evening. Not.

They pulled up to a burger place near the main Kaiba headquarters building. Joey didn't visit this part of town often because it was pretty far to walk to and the train ride was kind of pricey. He saved the trips there for dueling tournaments and the rare shopping days with Serenity.

"-so then I summoned a Cobrada. The guy was totally freaked out." Mokuba delighted in telling Joey every single detail of a capsule monster chess match he had at school recently. Joey wasn't familiar with the capsule monster rules, but assumed they were like duel monsters'. He wouldn't put money on that though. Kaiba asked for a table and the hostess led them to a private table sectioned off from the others. Joey watched Mokuba talked animatedly, wondering how the two brothers could be so incredibly different. "What are you getting?" Mokuba suddenly asked. Then he looked over at Kaiba sitting across from them with no menu. "Can I get a chocolate parfait?" He asked.

"Sure why not?" Kaiba smiled and Joey felt like he walked in on a very personal family moment he wasn't supposed to be seeing. "Are you getting anything else?" He asked. Mokuba looked at a menu with Joey.

"The usual." Mokuba decided. Kaiba nodded.

"Ready?" Kaiba asked not quite as nicely to Joey. Joey thought of the amount of money in his pocket and carefully looked over the menu. He found something that was cheap enough so that he could get a drink too. Score.

"Yeah I'm ready." Joey said. The waitress came and Joey let out a loud laugh. Kaiba looked appalled and Tea looked shocked.

"Oh hi Tea!" Mokuba greeted. Tea awkwardly returned the greeting as her eyes remained on Joey.

"Joey what?" She then looked at Kaiba and she seemed to struggle with what she was seeing.

"I didn't know you worked for a burger place." Joey mentioned casually.

"I didn't know you and the Kaibas were so close." She replied. Joey and Tea's eyes locked and they shared a silent agreement that neither would speak of the other's secret.

"We aren't" Kaiba corrected.

"Uh… right. So what can I get for you?" Tea asked opening her memo. Kaiba listed off his and Mokuba's order and then looked pointedly at Joey. Joey ordered and Tea gave him one more curious look as she closed her memo pad and walked away.

"Great, does the geek squad have to ruin everything I enjoy?" Kaiba complained.

"Oh don't be that way Seto." Mokuba chided. "Joey's pretty cool. Right?" Joey winced. Out of the whole crew it was no secret Kaiba seemed to dislike him the most. Kaiba snorted.

"Joey wouldn't know what cool was even if he was made of ice." Kaiba argued.

"It's hard to be cool when you're this hot." Joey grinned pointing both thumbs to himself. Kaiba pretended to throw up and Mokuba doubled over laughing. Tea returned with the drinks, looking uncomfortable as she placed them down. She gave Joey a fleeting look and disappeared again.

"Never say anything like that again." Kaiba groaned. Joey couldn't shake the grin off his face.

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 _I apologize for the very late chapter, the website was spazzing on me (visible html, super zoomed, missing buttons, etc.) Thank you for your patience and..._

 **Thank you for reading Ladies, Gents and Non-binary friends!**

 **Please comment below!**


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